Electric car ran out of charge on the M9? What happens next

What an electric car does as the battery runs down

An EV does not just stop. Well before the battery is empty it starts telling you, and then it starts taking things away. The first stage is a low battery warning, usually somewhere around ten to twenty percent, with the car suggesting a charger. Below that the heating may be cut back, the top speed and acceleration are limited, and on most cars a turtle or reduced power symbol appears on the dash. Some cars will show a range of zero while still holding a small reserve, and most will crawl for a few more kilometres at a limp speed before they finally stop.

Once it stops it will not go again until it has been charged. Unlike a petrol car there is no can of fuel to pour in, and the kind of mobile charging unit that can put a few kilometres into a stranded EV is not something you can count on in rural Ireland. The job is to get the car to a charger, and on the M9 that means a flatbed.

One thing to know in advance: when the main battery is empty, the car's computers are still running on the small 12 volt battery, and that battery is being drained by the hazard lights, the screens and anything else that is on. Do not sit in the car with the heater running and the radio on while you wait. Hazards on, everything else off.

What to do when an EV stops on the M9

1. As soon as you see the reduced power warning, get into the left lane and plan to leave at the next junction. Do not try to make it to the far side of Kilkenny on a reserve.
2. If it is going to stop, use the last of the momentum to get fully on to the hard shoulder, hazards on, wheels turned left.
3. Everyone out through the passenger side and behind the barrier.
4. Note the direction, the last junction, and the blue location sign on the verge.
5. If the car is in a live lane or anyone is hurt, ring 112 or 999. Otherwise ring the Motorway Traffic Control Centre on 0818 715 100, then your insurer if you have breakdown cover. If you have none, or the wait is too long, ring us.
6. Tell whoever you ring that it is an electric car, the make and model, and whether it still powers up. It changes the kit we bring.
7. Find out how to put the car into tow or transport mode and how to release the parking brake with no power. It is in the handbook and usually in the manufacturer's app. A locked EV with no power is a lot slower to load.

Can you tow an electric car? Not on its wheels

Not with the wheels on the ground, and not with a rope. In an EV the motor is connected directly to the driven wheels through a fixed reduction gear, with no neutral in the sense a petrol car has one. When the wheels turn, the motor turns, and a turning motor generates current. With the car switched off there is nowhere for that current to go, and the result can be an overheated motor, a damaged inverter or, on some cars, damage to the drive electronics that costs more than the recovery ever would. Almost every manufacturer's handbook says the same thing: transport on a flatbed with all four wheels off the road.

The same goes, in a milder way, for automatics with a conventional gearbox, which should not be dragged any distance with the driven wheels down. We run a flatbed only, no spec lift and no rope, and for an EV we use the winch and, if the car will not roll or will not go into neutral, skates under the wheels so nothing turns that should not.

If a passing operator offers to rope tow your EV to the next junction, say no. It is not worth the saving.

EV recovery in Ireland: what we actually do at the roadside

On the M9 we do what we do with every car: get it on the bed, get you in the cab, and get off the motorway at the next junction. For an EV the difference is where it goes afterwards. We will bring it to a rapid charger if one is close and working, so you can put enough in to get home, or to your home charger, or to Webster's Garage at Three Castles if there is a fault rather than an empty battery. We check the charger is live before we unload if we can, because there is nothing worse than being dropped at a dead charger.

If the car is completely dead, including the 12 volt system, we may have to open it manually, release the parking brake by the emergency method and winch it on with the wheels on skates. That takes longer, which is why we ask about the state of the car on the phone.

Charging around Kilkenny and Waterford

There is one rapid charging stop on the M9 through Kilkenny, at the Paulstown service area at Junction 7, which has high power chargers on the forecourt. South of Paulstown there is nothing on the motorway, so for most of the Kilkenny section your nearest public chargers are in the towns off the junctions: Kilkenny city off Junctions 8 and 9, Thomastown and Callan off Junction 10, and Waterford city at the southern end. Kilkenny city has a number of public chargers in and around the car parks and retail parks, and Waterford city has more. Check your charging app for live availability before you rely on any of them, because a charger being on the map does not mean it is working, free or the right connector.

If your car is on the hard shoulder with nothing left, the realistic plan is a flatbed to the nearest working rapid charger, twenty minutes on it, and then home. We would rather you rang before it gets to that.

The 12 volt battery: the EV breakdown nobody expects

A lot of the EV breakdowns we attend have nothing to do with the big battery. The car has a normal 12 volt battery that runs the locks, the screens, the computers and the contactors that connect the main battery. If the 12 volt battery goes flat, the car will not wake up, will not unlock and will not go into drive, even with the main battery at 80 percent. On a cold morning in a Kilkenny car park this is very common.

The fix is usually a jump start on the 12 volt battery, just like a petrol car, using the terminals the manufacturer provides. We can do that at the roadside anywhere off the motorway. The things to avoid are leaving the car sitting for weeks without being driven, and using the car to jump start somebody else, which many manufacturers advise against. If the 12 volt battery is more than a few years old and has gone flat once, get it replaced before it does it again at the worst possible moment.

Winter range loss and planning the M9 in an EV

Cold weather hits electric cars twice. The battery itself gives less in the cold, and the cabin heater draws a lot of power. Between the two, a car that does 350 kilometres in June can struggle to do 250 in January, and motorway speeds make it worse again, because drag goes up sharply above 100 km/h. The dash range figure is based on how you have been driving recently, so if you have been pottering around Kilkenny all week it will be optimistic the moment you hit the M9.

• Leave with more than you need. For a Kilkenny to Dublin run allow a comfortable margin over the 130 or so kilometres, and more in winter.
• Preheat the car while it is still plugged in at home so the heater is not eating range on the motorway.
• Plan your charging stop before you leave, with a backup. Paulstown at Junction 7 is the only one on the motorway through Kilkenny.
• Drive at 110 rather than 120 if the range is tight. It makes a noticeable difference.
• Do not pass a working charger with less than a quarter left if the next one is more than an hour away.
• Keep a high visibility vest, a torch and a charged phone in the car, and know where the tow mode and the manual parking brake release are before you need them.